Beijing —- A coastal aristocrat with a history steeped in global trade. A rich businessman with deep pockets. Or a gritty, up-and-coming fighter.

Those are the three choices facing Atlanta as it struggles to pick its first —- and likely only —- Chinese sister city.

Atlanta has 18 sister cities including Ancient Olympia in Greece and Lagos, Nigeria.

But unlike past choices, the decision is complicated because Atlanta and Georgia are investing to build trade links throughout China. Three cities —- Dalian, a former Russian outpost on China's northeastern coast; Ningbo, a sprawling industrial hub a short drive from Shanghai; and Wuhan, a bustling Yangtze River port —- are bidding for Atlanta's hand.

"We have never, ever had three applicants from the same country, and three very good applicants," Claire McLeveighn, director of external affairs and international relations in Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin's office, said in a telephone interview.

"It's like, when it rains, it pours," she said.

But Franklin's office has delayed its decision.

The Atlanta Sister Cities Commission, a group of private citizens who recommend possible sister city partnerships, suggested last September that Atlanta partner with Ningbo, a city of 6 million people that "was exciting in its proximity to Shanghai" and aggressively pursued the deal, said Teri Simmons, a partner at Arnall Golden Gregory law firm in Atlanta and the chair of the Sister Cities Commission.

"In any relationship, you know, it's really good to be wanted," Simmons said.

Normally, a recommendation from the commission is enough to seal a relationship. But Franklin's chief of staff, Greg Pridgeon, decided potential economic ties with a Chinese sister city are important enough that Atlanta should calm its infatuation and look again, McLeveighn said.

Both Atlanta and Georgia have pushed for closer ties with China over recent years. Both lobbied for Delta's new direct flight to Shanghai from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and both are pressing for an anticipated Chinese consulate to be located in Atlanta.

The state opened a trade development office in Beijing in March, and both the mayor and Gov. Sonny Perdue have traveled to China within the last two years.

Sister city relationships have generated business for the state and "when you look at the kinds of economic possibilities between the U.S. and China, and the sheer size of China, the possibilities and opportunities become magnified," McLeveighn said.

"The chief of staff's position is that we need to do some additional due diligence because this is the first time that we have to look at a sister city candidate with a very keen eye toward economic development, business and trade," she said.

The mayor's office asked the China Research Center at Mercer University to analyze each of the Chinese cities' prospects.

"When the mayor's office came to us, they said they were interested in having [the sister city] match in terms of economic issues," said Penelope Prime, director of the center and an economics professor at Mercer.

By the numbers, Prime said, Wuhan has the edge. It straddles the Yangtze River about 400 miles from the Pacific Ocean and developed as a port where European traders bought tea and silks from central China.

Of the three contenders, Wuhan has the most service-sector jobs, a statistic that makes it a better fit with Atlanta, and is attractive because costs are lower and growth is rapid, Prime said.

"Wuhan is very welcoming and affordable and semi-developed," she said. "It's rising fast and posting more and more foreign companies."

But Ningbo "appears to be an entirely new city" famous for entrepreneurship, the center said in a report to the mayor's office.

Dalian, the former Russian outpost, is "considered one of the most Westernized cities in China" and is "built on a series of hills, looking out over the ocean harbor," the report said.

Part of the problem is that Atlanta arrived late to China's sister city dance and many of the most eligible cities have been snapped up.

The city had considered Guangzhou, where UPS runs a large logistics center, but it coupled with Los Angeles in 1981.

Chengdu, a relaxed city in China's Sichuan province, seemed a good choice because Zoo Atlanta's giant pandas once lived there. But Phoenix had signed with it.

Atlanta officials gazed longingly at China's brightest stars —- Shanghai, Beijing and the massive Yangtze metropolis of Chongqing —- but finally had to accept that "Atlanta's not New York," Prime said.

Still, Atlanta has its standards: When a few industrial and agricultural Chinese cities approached, Atlanta officials turned them down.

"That's just not the kind of city that Atlanta is," McLeveighn said.

And then the three suitors came knocking.

Since city laws allow Atlanta to choose only one relationship in each foreign country and all three were "very good candidates," the flurry of attention has been "both a blessing and a curse," McLeveighn said.

For now, city officials seem too undecided to pick. The China Research Center submitted its report last fall and has heard nothing since, Prime said.

McLeveighn said the report is with Pridgeon and he will recommend one of the cities to the Atlanta Sister Cities Commission.

To avoid spurning the losers, Atlanta might change its laws to allow multiple partners. Or it might soothe their feelings by offering "friendship city" agreements.

Having a "friendship city" agreement "does recognize that we have a relationship and we will be doing things together," McLeveighn said.

THE CANDIDATES

These Chinese cities want a "sister" relationship with Atlanta:

DALIAN

> Population: 5.7 million

> GDP in 2005: $30 billion

> GDP per capita in 2005: $5,380

> Dalian has the largest harbor in northeastern China and is one of the most modern and prosperous cities in the country. It has maintained its colonial-era charm with traditional Japanese and Russian architecture. It has two large aquariums.

NINGBO

> Population: 5.6 million

> GDP in 2005: $35 billion

> GDP per capita in 2005: $6,219

> Ningbo is a transportation hub with 28 million people passing through the city in 2005. Its primary industries are fishing, textiles and food processing. Economists expect a bridge being built between Ningbo and Shanghai will spur development.

WUHAN

> Population: 8 million

> GDP in 2005: $32 billion

> GDP per capita in 2005: $3,695

> Wuhan offers a mix of old and new architecture. China's only city built up on both sides of the Yangtze River, it serves as a major port for goods made inland and shipped downstream to Shanghai. It is home to one of China's largest airports and to large operations by Coca-Cola and UPS, according to city officials.

Sources: Staff reports; Mercer University China Research Center; Lonely Planet China guidebook

 SHANNON PEAVY / Staff
THE CANDIDATES
Map of China locates the three candidates: Dalian, Ningbo and Wuhan. Inset map outlines area of detail in China relative to Russia.